Zion Pharma Secures $40 Million Series B Financing Led by OrbiMed with Full Participation from Existing Investors

It is a rare and coveted achievement for an innovative drug company to gain sustained favor and support from multiple top-tier investment firms. Zion Pharma is aDeveloping Innovative Small-Molecule Anti-Tumor Drugs from a DMPK PerspectiveAs a biopharmaceutical company, Zion Pharma has completed four rounds of financing within just three years of its establishment. Leveraging truly differentiated project initiation and efficient team execution capabilities, the company has impressed all investors—regardless of their entry round—with its R&D strength and project progress, leading them to continuously participate in subsequent financing rounds.

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned that Zion Pharma announced the completion of its $40 million Series B financing round, which was led byLed by world-renowned investment firm OrbiMed, with continued participation from existing shareholders Qiming Venture Partners, Sherpa Investments, Juming Venture Capital, and Mifang Capital. The proceeds from this round of financing will be used to support clinical studies, preclinical research, and talent acquisition for the Company’s ongoing independent development projects.

Cheng Ziqiang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zion Pharma

Shortly after this year’s Spring Festival, multiple investment firms visited Zion Pharma to express strong interest in investing. Following in-depth discussions and negotiations, the company ultimately partnered with OrbiMed, a world-leading venture capital firm.Zion Pharma Chairman and CEO, Cheng Ziqiang“Partnering with leading global venture capital firms has always been a key strategic priority for Zion Pharma. As a top-tier global VC firm, OrbiMed places strong emphasis on clinical-value-driven drug development and focuses its investments on source innovation and truly differentiated biopharmaceutical companies. Gaining OrbiMed’s endorsement is the strongest testament to Zion Pharma’s capabilities.”

Zion Pharma has developed several oncology pipelines with differentiated improvements based on drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK). Among these, its independently designed and developed innovative drug for breast cancer brain metastases has completed dose-escalation Phase I clinical trials in both China and the United States.Dr. Zhou Ding, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Zion PharmaIt was revealed that, based on existing clinical data, the drug’s clinical outcomes have achieved the initially set targets, which can be succinctly summarized as “two positives and one negative”:

The so-called “Two Haves”:The clinical pharmacokinetic (PK) data of this drug are highly consistent with our preclinical predictions, thereby ensuring adequate intracerebral exposure levels to meet therapeutic requirements. This fully demonstrates the strong capabilities and advantages of the Zion Pharma team in DMPK, providing robust assurance for the efficacy outcomes. In terms of efficacy, partial responses were observed even in patients receiving low doses, with effective disease control and remission achieved in multiple patients.

The So-Called "Yi Wu": During the dose-escalation phase, no serious adverse reactions have been observed, providing confidence for further development.

Dr. Zhou Ding, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Zion Pharma

It is reported that approximately 30–50% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are at risk of brain metastasis. However, there are currently no approved standard pharmacological treatments for breast cancer brain metastasis. Existing therapeutic options are limited to craniotomy, whole-brain radiotherapy, or stereotactic radiosurgery, which are associated with significant adverse effects and short patient survival times. Zion Pharma’s pioneering brain-penetrant anti-tumor novel drug holds promise as a future first-line therapy for patients with breast cancer brain metastasis.

Zion Pharma is a leading biotechnology company distinguished by its highly differentiated projects and robust pipeline. The company plans to advance another blockbuster, first-in-class innovative drug into Phase I clinical trials in both China and the United States this year. Meanwhile, it expects two preclinical candidate (PCC) drugs to enter the IND-enabling stage early next year, with more new projects featuring differentiated DMPK profiles or first-in-class innovation actively under development. These pipeline candidates primarily target refractory diseases with significant unmet clinical needs, offering hope for a cure to these patient populations.

Zion Pharma places great emphasis on career development opportunities and a healthy corporate culture. The company remains committed to cultivating talent, adhering to the overarching principle of providing every team member with access to new knowledge domains and expanding their professional development platforms. In decision-making, the company rejects authoritarian “one-voice” practices, instead encouraging all employees to freely express their ideas and perspectives, fostering dynamic intellectual exchange.Zion Pharma Founder Cheng ZiqiangThis can be described as the “high-speed rail model,” which ignites each employee’s intrinsic motivation to promote the company’s overall efficient operation.

Dr. Ziqiang ChengHe further added that the company is willing to offer highly competitive compensation, benefits, and equity incentives to outstanding candidates. Alongside the new round of financing, we hope to attract more talented and innovative individuals to join the Zion Pharma family, working together to develop differentiated and source-innovative projects that gain global recognition, ultimately benefiting patients worldwide.

Regarding the investment in Zion Pharma,OrbiMed Partner Wang DasongHe stated, “The ability to design compounds capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, along with the capability to predict and comprehensively evaluate the DMPK properties of these compounds, constitutes the core competitiveness of the Zion Pharma team. From the outset of project initiation, Zion Pharma clearly defined its product differentiation goals, ensuring that DMPK-related differentiators observed in preclinical data could be reliably translated to the clinical setting. The Phase I clinical trial results for Zion Pharma’s breast cancer brain metastasis project showed strong concordance with preclinical predictions in terms of pharmacokinetics (PK), toxicity, and efficacy. I look forward to seeing Zion Pharma’s projects expand globally, establishing the company as a biopharmaceutical enterprise with worldwide competitiveness.”

Hu Xubo, Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partnersstated: “Zion Pharma has remained dedicated to the R&D of innovative small-molecule oncology drugs, demonstrating keen and profound insights into unmet medical needs. Within just three years, the company progressed from independent design of an innovative drug to completion of clinical dose-escalation trials, while continuously advancing the diversification of its R&D pipeline and expanding its clinical development globally. Leveraging the team’s high execution efficiency, differentiated project selection, and a robust pipeline portfolio, we believe Zion Pharma is poised to become a key player in China’s pharmaceutical innovation landscape.”

Xing Cheng, Managing Partner at Sherpa CapitalZion Pharma’s unique pipeline strategy, robust new drug development capabilities, and efficient project execution have endowed the company with significant competitiveness in the new drug R&D industry. Within just three years, the company has rapidly advanced multiple pipeline assets with global competitive potential. We are delighted to continue our investment in the company following our lead role in the Series A round, growing alongside the company, and we also extend our sincere gratitude to the new investor, OrbiMed, for their further support!

Bai Yang, Partner at Mifang Capital“Mifang Capital, as the angel investor in Zion Pharma, is pleased to support the company’s Series B financing round. Over the past year, Zion Pharma has continued to pursue a strategy of differentiated development, achieving rapid growth and smooth clinical progress, thereby demonstrating its unique advantages in DMPK. Having invested in Zion Pharma across four consecutive rounds—from its inception to its current stage—Mifang Capital has witnessed the team’s growth. We welcome pharmaceutical professionals from the industry to join Zion Pharma and embark on this journey of innovation and exploration together.”

OrbiMed is dedicated to identifying and supporting healthcare and life sciences companies that advance human health. OrbiMed manages approximately $19 billion in net assets. With over two decades of focus on global healthcare investments, our portfolio spans biopharmaceuticals, life sciences technologies, medical devices, healthcare services, and diagnostics, covering investment stages from early-stage startups and growth-phase companies to mature enterprises and post-IPO entities. Our investment team comprises more than 100 distinguished professionals worldwide, with expertise in life sciences, medicine, finance, and law.

Qiming Venture Partners was established in 2006 and has successively set up offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Hong Kong, Seattle, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently, Qiming Venture Partners manages nine U.S. dollar funds and six RMB funds, with total assets under management reaching $5.9 billion. Since its inception, the firm has focused on investing in outstanding early-stage and growth-stage companies in sectors such as TMT and Healthcare. To date, Qiming Venture Partners has invested in more than 380 high-growth innovative enterprises, among which over 130 have achieved exits through listings on exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), Taipei Exchange (TPEx), Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), and Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), as well as through mergers and acquisitions. More than 40 of these portfolio companies have become industry-recognized unicorns and super unicorns.

Sherpa Capital is a dual-currency healthcare investment fund established in 2018, dedicated to professional and focused investing. The core team members have collaborated for over a decade, accumulating extensive investment experience and delivering an outstanding track record in China’s healthcare industry. Committed to serving as professional guides behind the climbers of medical technology, Sherpa Capital empowers entrepreneurs to reach the pinnacle of their careers. The Sherpa Capital team has invested in numerous industry-leading enterprises across key sectors such as life sciences, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics, and healthcare services, often acting as one of their earliest and most significant investors. From 2011 to 2021, Sherpa Capital navigated four fund vintages and refined its expertise through more than 100 healthcare projects, honored to partner with and grow alongside many exceptional entrepreneurs.

Juming Venture Capital is an early- to mid-stage venture capital firm focused on innovative drugs, medical devices, novel diagnostics, gene therapy, and other fields. Since its establishment in October 2018, it has invested in nearly 40 outstanding startups in the industry. The management team and investment advisory team of Juming Venture Capital emphasize growing alongside entrepreneurs and supporting corporate innovation and entrepreneurship.

Med-Fine Capital is a specialized investment fund focused on the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and life sciences sectors. The fund’s team boasts extensive industry background, rich sector resources, and professional investment expertise in pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Med-Fine Capital has completed investments in nearly fifty emerging companies, including Mabwell, Hanyu Medical, Zion Pharma, InnoMicro, PhenoGene, QuestMed, LinkHealth, Libang Pharmaceutical, Ansong Technology, Micron Biology, Kinomab, Yehui Pharma, Zhongyi Anke, and CAS Gene. Adhering to the philosophy of “focusing on pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and life sciences, leveraging capital value, and rewarding trust,” Med-Fine Capital is committed to becoming an open, platform-oriented professional pharmaceutical investment fund with prominent international competitiveness and far-reaching reputation.